We’ve all had the scary flight whether it’s getting “slightly” lost or having a close call in the pattern. Here’s the scariest flight I’ve ever had.
I was a training for my private pilot certificate and I was on my second cross country flight so saying I was a newbie would be an understatement. I prepared with my 15nm checkin points on my sectional chart and I had my FourFlight up in case I needed it for navigation but really only using it for situational awareness to track the other planes around me.
My CFI signed off my flight plan and I walked out to my plane confident this was going to be an amazing cross country flight. I was flying from Petaluma (O69) to Byron (C83) and finally Rio Vista (O88) before heading back to Petaluma to finish off the cross-country.
Smooth Flying
I did my walk around, completed my safety checklist, did my run up and reviewed my take off briefing to myself before entering runway 29. As I gained altitude I leveled out at 5,500ft and started of to Byron. As I approached Byron listed to the traffic and the ATIS for conditions and what runway was the active. Runway 12 was the active and a few planes were in the pattern but would be out by the time I arrived. I made a 10 mile call, 5 mile call and finally my call for entering the 45 to runway 12, this is where the flight when off the rails.
Situation Nobody Wants To Be In
As I entered the 45 to runway 12 I knew I was a little too far out, I was not going to be lined up with midfield for my downwind, I was more lined up for entering the downwind at the threshold of runway 30, rookie mistake. There was only one plane in the air and they were on final for 12. Byron happens to have an almost perpendicular runway 05 which was no being used up until this point. Seemingly out of nowhere a Piper 180 starts is role on runway 05. In a little bit of shock I continued on my course but as the plane gained altitude it was clear we were going to come to close for comfort. I radioed in asking the plane taking off if they have visual because we were on an intercept path, NOTHING BACK. I called in again and said I was on the downwind for 12, still nothing.
The next 15 seconds were like a blur, I pulled up to gain altitude as my Fourflight alarm let me know I was 500 feet from a plane. My lack of experience took over and instead of making any other actions I held the yoke back, gaining altitude as quickly as possible. I braced and fully expected a crash sounds but nothing came as the plane passed below me completely unseen.
The Aftermath
My heart was racing and my hands were shaking but I had a job to do and shook my hands out on at a time. I got back down to pattern altitude, called my base and final and made an ok landing. I got out of the plane and had real fear, I honestly didn’t know if I wanted to fly again for about 5 minutes. Once I took some breaths and stretched I got back into my plane and completed my cross country without incident. I got home that night I looked at my tracking and the tracking of the other plane on flight radar. We had been only 200 feet away from one another and there was absolutely no change in pitch or heading from the other plan, no radio calls and taking off from the runway not in use at the time. The other plane went directly to Tahoe.
It was sobering and I replayed it in my mind about 20 times. What could I have done better? why did that pilot do that? In the end I decided that I can’t control what others do and once I saw a plane rolling down the runway I should have left the pattern and setup for the 45 again. I would have been nowhere near the other plane at that point and totally in control of the situation. My lesson learned, I got back to flying and completed my license 4 months later.
I love flying but for a moment I thought I would never be able to do it again. It’s a larger learning that even though some things are scary, we face them and learn what to do better the next time.
